Wills & POA - Costs etc.

[c31]

My daughter wants to construct her will and POA, she has been quoted between £1200 by an Edinburgh Solicitor and £19.99 online!! Does anyone have recommendations for a reasonable priced and reputable firm she could use. It is 'Free Wills' month but she is struggling to find someone who will do it.

TIA

[CropleyWasGod]

My daughter wants to construct her will and POA, she has been quoted between £1200 by an Edinburgh Solicitor and £19.99 online!! Does anyone have recommendations for a reasonable priced and reputable firm she could use. It is 'Free Wills' month but she is struggling to find someone who will do it.

TIA

Obviously, I don't know your daughter's circumstances, but does she need a POA just now?

I have just re-done my will, and was quoted a higher amount to do that and a POA. I decided, for various reasons, to do just the will for now and leave the POA until later.

I used Gillespie Macandrew, who have been our family solicitors for years, and they charged me £780. Mine was pretty straightforward, but costs will vary depending on the complexity.

Hope that helps :)

[pollution]

Obviously, I don't know your daughter's circumstances, but does she need a POA just now?

I have just re-done my will, and was quoted a higher amount to do that and a POA. I decided, for various reasons, to do just the will for now and leave the POA until later.

I used Gillespie Macandrew, who have been our family solicitors for years, and they charged me £780. Mine was pretty straightforward, but costs will vary depending on the complexity.

Hope that helps :)


Twenty years ago mine cost £150, talk about inflation !

[c31]

Obviously, I don't know your daughter's circumstances, but does she need a POA just now?

I have just re-done my will, and was quoted a higher amount to do that and a POA. I decided, for various reasons, to do just the will for now and leave the POA until later.

I used Gillespie Macandrew, who have been our family solicitors for years, and they charged me £780. Mine was pretty straightforward, but costs will vary depending on the complexity.

Hope that helps :)

Cheers for your reply. The company she tried was Gillespie MacAndrew but at £1200 it was far too much, they must need the money to pay for their plush offices at the West End. She has engaged with a solicitor who will charge £430 for her will and POA. Which is still a lot!!

[Trinity Hibee]

Cheers for your reply. The company she tried was Gillespie MacAndrew but at £1200 it was far too much, they must need the money to pay for their plush offices at the West End. She has engaged with a solicitor who will charge £430 for her will and POA. Which is still a lot!!

I got my will setup just before covid and it was around £250-300 so I imagine £430 is a normal price nowadays. Much better than £1200 anyway which is mental!

[Stick]

My daughter wants to construct her will and POA, she has been quoted between £1200 by an Edinburgh Solicitor and £19.99 online!! Does anyone have recommendations for a reasonable priced and reputable firm she could use. It is 'Free Wills' month but she is struggling to find someone who will do it.

TIA

Is she or husband a member of a union? If so she may be entitled to have her will done free, we had both ours done free through the unite union,not sure about poa, worth asking.

[staunchhibby]

Thomson I think have deals for unison members

[c31]

She's sorted now but it's a reminder if you own a property get a will!! It was a friend of mines wife of 40 years died and as she didn't have a will it cost him £2500 to get everything legally in his name. It's a complete rip off especially as he was struggling with his emotions at the time..

[Allant1981]

I don't this with my parents a few months ago, cost £1300. I'm glad we did though, my mum passed away 4 weeks ago and it would have been so much harder with out POA, my dad doesn't keep well so being able to deal with banks etc without the extra hassle was worth the money we paid out

[Trinity Hibee]

I don't this with my parents a few months ago, cost £1300. I'm glad we did though, my mum passed away 4 weeks ago and it would have been so much harder with POA, my dad doesn't keep well so being able to deal with banks etc without the extra hassle was worth the money we paid out

Sorry to hear that. As you say, best to be prepared incase difficult times are ahead

[Alfiembra]

Had an interesting chat with the solicitor arranging my wife and I’s wills. We have set up living rent wills, which is when one of us passes the survivor retains half of the house and the other half is held in a trust. This means that if the survivor eventually needs to go into care the whole value of the house cannot be considered as an asset of the survivor and be used for care home fees, however the survivor whilst fit and well retains full control and free use of the property.
The interesting part though is in the deeds of the house, if you have lived in the same property for many years, which we have, then your deeds may have been written in an older format and wording to modern deeds. The deeds might state that the property is in you joint names and survivors if one of you passes. If it is worded in this manner it effectively trumps the living rent will and invalidates it, thereby the property would be assessed as an asset in full for the survivor in the event of one of our deaths. To avoid this we have had to signed a declaration that revokes this clause in the deeds so that it protects the property for the survivor and the the living rent will.

I hope I have explained that properly it’s how I have understood it works but please if you are in a similar position get the proper legal advice.

[Shrekko]

My daughter wants to construct her will and POA, she has been quoted between £1200 by an Edinburgh Solicitor and £19.99 online!! Does anyone have recommendations for a reasonable priced and reputable firm she could use. It is 'Free Wills' month but she is struggling to find someone who will do it.

TIA

POA is really easy to do yourself, although you also need to get a Doctor to certify you have capacity which costs money. Just go on the Office of the Public Guardian website for info on how to draft it (or copy others examples!) and then register. Solicitors are an absolute rip off.

[Scouse Hibee]

We never involved a doctor?

[lapsedhibee]

POA is really easy to do yourself, although you also need to get a Doctor to certify you have capacity which costs money. Just go on the Office of the Public Guardian website for info on how to draft it (or copy others examples!) and then register.

:agree:

[staunchhibby]

Did not require a doctor for our P.O.A

[lapsedhibee]

We never involved a doctor?


Did not require a doctor for our P.O.A

A doctor or a lawyer is required for the sanity clause. Doctor is cheaper.

[Shrekko]

A doctor or a lawyer is required for the sanity clause. Doctor is cheaper.

I've heard some Doctors might do it for free, but it may cost around £200. You just need to download and print a 'certificate of capacity' from the Office of Public Guardian Scotland website and get them to fill it in.

It's then a case of filling in the registration form and drafting a POA document (and signing)- you'll find plenty of templates or examples online. It costs £96 to register with the OPGS which would be your only other cost.

https://www.publicguardian-scotland.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/power-of-attorney/the-power-of-attorney-document

Like a lot of things that solicitors do and charge a fortune for it's not that difficult- they just use their own standard template passages and charge you an extra grand for it.

[lapsedhibee]

I've heard some Doctors might do it for free, but it may cost around £200. You just need to download and print a 'certificate of capacity' from the Office of Public Guardian Scotland website and get them to fill it in.

:agree: Wasn't charged (though that's 10 years ago, perhaps more common to charge now).